I sat down to write all about all my adventures several times, but every time I did, I decided to wait and add something else!!! I’ve crammed so much into this trip it will take a novel to cover it all!!! I promise to go into more detail about some of the wonderful things that have been happening to me, but here is a little teaser:
I, of course, have spent a lot of time just visiting with my Mom. I love being here with her and really wish she would move to Sanford so we can see each other every day and have great adventures all the time!
Katie came with me and she has had her own set of adventures – that will surely be a fun post with pictures! Megan and Amy spent their vacation with Miss Rae at Rae-Zor and, from what I hear, they have had a pretty incredible time playing and meeting new friends, too!!!
There was an evening of fun and reminiscing with a nice size group of my high school friends…..that deserves an entire blog post all it’s own! For those who are my Facebook friends, you can see the photos!
I was able to spend a lovely day with relatives I haven’t seen in a very long time. The reason we gathered together was a sad occasion – my Great Aunt Betty’s memorial service, but it was still a great reunion!
I have spent a lot of time going through and scanning old photos to preserve them and have them electronically for projects I hope to find the time and patience to complete this year. It has been amazing seeing and learning about the history of my family beyond what I already knew! I plan a blog post on some of the stories I have discovered – it is all so fascinating!
I spent time (not enough) with an old friend from school — just talking and having dinner! I am going to really miss seeing her, but now that we have reconnected, we’ve promised to stay in closer touch!
As you can see, this trip was full of collecting memories of, reconnecting to, and reacquainting myself with my past! It has been an emotional and fulfilling time! I look forward to sharing parts of it with my Sanford friends! It has been an incredible experience – one I will hate to see end!!!
I had a really full weekend – lots to do – gorgeous weather – a lot of driving around with the top down on the pony…..here are some quick highlights:
The weekend started on Friday evening at the Temple Theatre to see Little Women, The Musical. I found this show to be charming and delightful – one of the very best of the season, in my opinion. I can’t wait to see “Dames At Sea”, though. It will be the last show of the season – perhaps they saved the very best for last!
On Saturday, I got my hair done, ran some errands and went to my friend Rowena’s wedding reception! It was a really fun reception held at the Old Gilliam Mill Park in Sanford.
After the wedding, I went downtown to the Temple Theatre’s Art Crawl fundraiser. It was very nice – a leisurely stroll around downtown with stops at various shops to taste some wines and view some beautiful art from local artists. There was also live entertainment at the Temple Theatre and on the corner of Carthage and Steele Streets. A very nice evening!

Sunday was devoted to getting my oil changed, tires rotated, and some quality time with friends…..including getting to know the newest member of our extended family – Chico!

I’m ready to go back to work to rest up from the weekend!
I participated in the Temple Theatre Art Crawl event in Sanford today. I had a really nice time and it was the perfect day for it. BUT — the coolest part was the strange pictures I got when I tried to capture the Temple Teens performing (performances, by the way, that brought tears to my eyes – so amazing!). I noticed that my flash made the picture come out too dark, so I tried to shut it off and zoom in to see what I got —- well, I did turn off the flash, but I must have changed another setting in the process, too, cause I could tell the pics were then coming out blurry! I took several hoping for at least one that came out. This is what I found when I downloaded them — all the action looks like it was captured in slow motion and all the teens look like ghosts with no legs dancing around with a shower of twinkle lights falling all around them:



And the ghosts take a bow……
What a great weekend this was!!! The weather was perfect and I had such a good time – can you spell S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G, boys and girls?
I started out the weekend by heading down to Fayetteville – I wanted to go to the Dress Barn down there. I got a few things there and at Macy’s. Speaking of which – the Macy’s at Cross Creek is soooooooooo much better than the Macy’s at Cary Towne Center!!! It has a much bigger selection in the departments I tend to shop in AND I do believe it is physically bigger!!!
I planned to have lunch at Red Lobster while I was down there – I haven’t had any really good lobster or crab in a while! So, I popped in there to eat between my trips to Dress Barn and Macy’s. They were fairly busy, but not packed. I had some “issues” with the hostess and finding a suitable table (that I won’t go into here), so after waiting about 15 minutes or so, I got up and left!!!! I went down the street to Joe’s Crab Shack and had a BLAST!!! It was a MUCH better choice — great, relaxed atmosphere, classic rock music blaring, and staff that acted like I was just the person they were waiting to arrive at that very moment!!! Any restaurant that gives you a bib, a bucket, a roll of paper towels, and a wet cloth large enough to take a bath with to take care of the mess you’re gonna make while eating is just my kinda place!!!! ha-ha The food was great (3 kinds of steamed crab and shrimp in big buckets doused with Old Bay Seasoning) and it was all very entertaining!!!
I also got my phone fixed while I was down there — I’ve been having trouble with it since just about the time I got it (last August), but I didn’t make the connection that it was a problem until just before Christmas. I originally thought I was just hitting a lot of dead zones. Then I realized it was specific to any 3G network areas — so, I could use it fine in Sanford, but if I tried to use it in Cary, Raleigh, Fayetteville, or pretty much any larger area outside Sanford (except in Hawaii – it worked fine there), it would show I am in a 3G area and that I had plenty of bars, but it would end the call before it started to ring the recipient and no incoming calls could get through to me! My phone is 3G capable, so what was that all about??? I had called the AT&T tech support folks and they told me that the only way to fix it was to shut the phone off, take the back off, remove the sim card, and put it all back together to “reset” it in the new network!!!! WHAT???? So, I took it to the AT&T store in Sanford and they told me the same thing and showed me what to do with it. I told her that if I had to go through that every time I had to use my phone outside of Sanford, I would just get a new phone OR a new cell company. She said they all do the same thing – it is a problem going from non-3G to 3G networks. Again – WHAT???? I know a lot of people who do that and they don’t have to take their phone apart every time they change networks!!! But – I’m not even a year into my contract, so I figured I was stuck, unless I wanted to pay full price for another phone or buy out my contract…….I decided to wait and see what comes up! So, while I was in Fayetteville, I passed a big AT&T store and decided to pop in and see if they had a solution for me! The girl thought the “take it apart” business was a crock! ha-ha She took it apart and saw that I had the wrong sim card in it!!! It was an old non-3G sim card – she said “no wonder, this won’t pick up 3G signals!” – she changed it out and copied all my info and turned it on and —– same problem!!! She was so funny – she looked at me and pointed at the phone and said “well, that is just wrong!”! She suggested I go to the device support center nearby. I did and they also said the advice I got regarding taking it all apart was a crock! They did a diagnostic on it and said it was all messed up and switched it out for a new one – problem solved!!! WOO HOO!!!
So – I had a very nice, entertaining, and productive day in Fayetteville!!!
As for today – I enjoyed another gorgeous weather day! I went to Cafe 121 for brunch and then to WalMart to get some groceries and bought myself a new camera – a Kodak Easy Share Z1285 – nice little camera!!! But, I mostly watched the girls play! They had some sleepyish play time in the house this morning while I was on the computer and then went out and really enjoyed the warm sun and grass! Here are some shots that I took today with my new camera:
Katie and Megan playing while Amy watches calmly:



Katie resting after her snuggle-fest with Megan:

Katie loving the warm sun and grass:


I adore Spring — it is, by far, my favorite season. It is so much more special than the other seasons – it represents new beginnings, resurrections, and the ability to wear white again…..here are my thoughts on Spring:
I’ve always loved Spring, but love it even more in North Carolina – mainly because it starts so much earlier here. No, not earlier on the calendar – Spring starts on the same day in NC as it does in NY — but the signs of it and the spring-like weather start earlier. I have been hearing from friends and family in my home town talking about snow and cold, windy days still occurring now weeks into the official calendar time frame for Spring! In NY, most people don’t start planting flowers and delicate plants until at least Memorial Day weekend….here, we are already planting or planning gardens.
Spring showers wake up all the dormant plant life. The evolution of this year’s Spring season is well on it’s way – the Bradford Pear blossoms have come and gone – the Cherry blossoms are mostly gone – lawns are getting thick and green – the dogwoods, azaleas, and red buds are in full bloom all over the area!!! In my yard, everything that goes dormant in the winter months are starting to bud out with leaves and blossom buds – my Weeping Red Japanese Maple in the back yard is full of small leaves starting to fill in!! Here is the wild dogwood in my back yard – it always blooms early! Unlike the dogwood and crape myrtles that I had planted in my front yard – they are still young and bloom a little later!

I love to wear white and hate the fashion rule that you don’t wear white between Labor Day and Easter — I look forward to Easter weekend when I can wear white again!!! I cheated this year and took a pair of white jeans to wear in Hawaii — I rationalized to myself that the white rule doesn’t apply in tropical locations where it is pretty much summer all year round! LOL
Next Sunday is Easter — the definition of new beginnings — the day that signifies the resurrection of Christ after his crucifixion — the day that the Easter Bunny hides colorful eggs (eggs are a symbol of birth and beginnings) – and, yes, the day we can start wearing white again (OK, so that doesn’t symbolize new beginnings, but it is an important benefit of the day)!!!
Three of my friends are currently perfect symbols of new beginnings, too — Christy will be having a little boy in July — Jennifer and Lindsay recently found out they were pregnant!!! (See? They DO come in threes – click here to read about my obsession with the number 3) New babies, new blossoms, new beginnings!!!
The bad side of Spring in NC is the pine pollen!!! I never knew you could actually “see” pollen until I moved to NC. The first Spring I lived here, I was totally confused by the heavy blankets of yellowish-green dust that covered everything and made little green rivers when it rained!!! I was in shock when someone told me it was the pine pollen!!!???? WHAT???? I have since learned to keep things closed up (even though I would love to open everything up) for the few weeks that the pine pollen falls and to be very careful to not get any in my eyes (if I do, I end up with swollen, itchy eyes with big water pockets under them)….but, once a good rain comes and washes it all off the trees, it is better!
Spring has Sprung — enjoy — I know I will!!!
I had a strange dream this morning — I’m not sure I care to know what it “means” or what was on my mind that would come out in a dream like this one! I do believe this one goes beyond the category of BAZAAR!!!
I started out in my kitchen talking to Laura, an old friend from high school. I told her that I was invited to a convention by a guy I was seeing (Vinny – and for the record, I don’t believe I know any Vinnys) and asked her if she wanted to go with me because I was sure I wouldn’t know anyone there! She agreed, so we got all gussied up and headed to the convention.
When we got there, we knew right away that this was a very different kind of convention. It was held at a large, dark, eerie looking mansion set way back from the road. The many acres of property surrounding the mansion was secured by high chain link fencing with barbed wire at the top and a locked gate. I told the guard who I was and who invited me. He was very pleasant and welcomed us and thanked me for bringing a potential new member to their ladies auxillary club. I got a blue stamp with “LA” on my hand and Laura got a red stamp with “visitor” on her hand. Laura and I just looked at each other and laughed and shrugged our shoulders.
We walked up the long path to the mansion and entered through the front door. A lady met us to give us name tags and told us where to go. She gave Laura a nod and said “we’re so glad to have some new ass”. Laura asked me what she was talking about and I told her that I had no idea and that we need to find Vinny to find out what he invited me to!
We entered the hall and it was full of people that would make the Corleones and Sopranos look like the Nelsons and the Cleavers…..it was obviously a Mofia convention – there were guns everywhere and a “council” table with the other guests filing by kissing rings and offering gifts to a group of very “Godfather” looking men!!! I looked around and asked where Vinny was. I was told that he sent his regrets and told them that I would be representing him and that they were so happy to see I brought a friend!
Laura and I decided we really should get out of there – fast – but we couldn’t find the door. I asked someone where the ladies room was (so we could get out of the room and find a way out of there) but was told that there was no time for that and to take our seats cause the program was about to start.
We sat down and the announcer asked for all current members of the Ladies Auxillary to come down to the front to help with the initiation of new members. I watched as several women got up and headed to the front. A man sitting next to me noticed the “LA” on my hand and told me to go with the rest of the ladies. I looked at my hand and realized that the “LA” meant ladies auxillary. I said I would rather stay with my friend and just watch – to which I was told that was not an option and that I’d better learn to cooperate!! Laura and I looked at each other with a mixture of concern and fear on our faces. I went to the front and joined the others.
The next people invited to the front were all the single male members of the convention. They were all dressed in very expensive looking tuxedos. One of the other ladies rolled out a rack of wedding dresses. Then the members seated in the hall were grabbing the arms of any ladies sitting near them with a “visitor” stamp on their hands and began to drag them down to the front. They stood there with a man with a gun holding them by the arm as the announcer informed them that they could pick whichever wedding gown they liked and to go get changed while they select which bachelor they would be paired with for the wedding ceremony! Laura looked at me with a “what the hell did you get me into” look on her face!!!
I yelled out that there must be some kind of mistake – I didn’t know what was going to happen when Vinny invited me and I just asked Laura to come because I wanted someone here I could talk to – I didn’t know this was going to happen and she shouldn’t be included. Then she spoke up and said she is already married, so she can’t participate!!!! We were told very sternly to shut up and behave ourselves!!! I told them, again, to let Laura go — I said that I’m not married to Vinny and I hardly even know him, so if they let Laura go, I will take her place. I was, again, told to shut up and a man with a gun came to stand beside me – they also told me that no laws apply inside these gates, so her current marriage is not recognized. Laura told them that she is Italian and her “family” will not be happy with this. They all laughed and said they know her “family” and they would definitely understand and that she is even more desirable because she IS Italian…..
A few of the “visitors” turned and bolted out of the hall (gee – they found the door….) and a crowd with guns followed them. In the confusion, I was able to go stand by Laura and we watched to see if the other girls could get away. Some were grabbed and some got close to the fence and were shot — two made it past the gates and the mob stopped and turned around to come back.
We realized that if we could just get outside the gates where laws prevent them from holding us, we would be safe. So, we made a run for it!!! I was grabbed and held – Laura turned to see what happened to me and I told her to keep going — just as I saw her make it through the gates to safety, I woke up!!!!
Man — how weird was that?????
Every now and then you hear on the news or read in the paper about senseless shootings in sleepy little towns across the country – far away from your own safe community. You wonder what is wrong with the world and what possesses someone to do such unspeakable things! And you never believe in your wildest dreams that it can happen in your own back yard….. Well, it happened in our back yard on Sunday – March 29th – a gunman entered a nursing home in Carthage, NC and went on a shooting rampage killing 8 and wounding several others.
Carthage is a very small community just a stone’s throw up the road from Sanford. I just passed through Carthage on Friday on my way to an appt in Pinehurst. I mentioned Carthage in my post dated March 22nd (the Sunday before the shootings) – a friend and I stopped at the little airport in Carthage on our way to the movies in Aberdeen. I have visited the wonderful antique shops there several times over the years. It is a lovely little community – quiet, peaceful, old world small town feel. Now, they will forever be associated with a horrible act of violence.
Any mass shootings of this nature are unbelievably horrendous – all locations selected by the warped minds of the individuals going on the killing spree are senseless and claim the lives of innocent victims. But, if there can be a location that seems more despicable than the others we’ve read about, it is a nursing home!!! The victims in this case were bedridden and in wheel chairs – in their 70s, 80s, and even their 90s – unable to even attempt to protect or shield themselves from their attacker. One woman was 98 years old – I don’t know her story, but I can only imagine, knowing the events that have occurred over her lifetime, that she has likely survived many a hardship over the course of nearly a century. And, now, to end her life with such violence… What kind of coward – what kind of animal does something like that?
Safety, security, comfort – those are the things you think of when you picture a small town and what you expect when you entrust your loved ones to an elder care facility or your children to their school or when you attend your local church. How can we ever feel safe, secure, and comfortable ANYWHERE when there are people in this world who, for whatever reason, just decide to walk into our comfort zones and open fire???!!!
The other side of this story is the picture of a hero! Justin Garner – the only officer on duty in Carthage on Sunday morning. He answered the call and didn’t hesitate to take charge of the situation by taking down the gunman with a single shot to the chest while being wounded, himself! He surely saved many other lives that day! Waiting for back up was probably the wiser thing to do, but he did what he felt was right and thank God he did! If anything can ever put the words “safe, secure, comfortable” back in our hearts, it is knowing that there are people like Officer Garner out there!
I don’t know any of the victims in this case and I don’t believe I know any of their family members…..but it still touched me, as I’m sure it did many others in the communities surrounding Carthage. After all – it happened in our back yard!
God bless the victims and their families and thank you, Officer Garner, for stopping it from being an even worse situation than it already was!!!
This week the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) made an announcement that is a classic “DUH” award candidate! A study concluded that pets are a major cause of falls and other related injuries to humans…..well, yeah – I coulda told them that……ha-ha!
Although I have never ended up in the ER or with broken bones because of it, I can write a book about all the cuts, bruises, trips, falls, etc. caused by the girls I love so much!!! And it doesn’t stop there – I could do sequel after sequel by adding editions dedicated to other beloved pets in my past.
Pets generally don’t mean to hurt us – I know there are some bad pets, but generally speaking, our pets love us! And THAT sometimes is the cause of our accidents — their over zealous excitement about seeing us, being near us, desire to get our attentions, and on and on and on…..
Let’s see – what are some of the top ways my sweet little girls have unintentionally caused me some level of pain or near misses:
All this brings new meaning to the term “Love Hurts” — and it is all sooooooooo worth it!!! he-he-he-he
Just some thoughts, words, and information to share on a quiet Saturday evening – the last Saturday of the first quarter of 2009….
I discovered Lipton White Tea with Blueberry and Pomegranate today — YUM!!! I usually don’t steep my tea bags very long cause I don’t like it strong – I generally get 2, sometimes 3 cups of tea out of one bag, but this one needed to steep quite a while to get all the flavor out of the bag — but it was really worth the wait!!! I am drinking it with a plate of fresh fruit and a piece of chicken — it is a perfectly delicious and lite dinner (I had a late lunch, so didn’t really want a full dinner)!!!
The “Best of Lee County” list was featured in today’s Sanford Herald – I agree with most of the choices, but have a few that I thought weren’t what I would have voted for (no – I didn’t submit my votes – I kept meaning to, but just never got around to it – so, I guess it is like the political elections – if I didn’t vote, I lost my right to complain about the winners……)! The ones that REALLY stuck out at me were:
We had some really bad weather around here yesterday — tornadoes ripped through areas not too far from here! Bad!!! And they are predicting more bad weather tonight!!! It has been raining off and on all day and the thunder is rolling in now…..sounds like we’re in for a bit of the nasties pretty soon!!!
I had a meeting with a counselor at First Health in Pinehurst yesterday to talk about my recent diagnosis of Type II Diabetes — he was wonderful and crammed a TON of info into a one hour session — I felt really good and optimistic when I left! I signed up for three classes that each will give me more in-depth info on topics that I could use some more help with. I think this will be a huge benefit for me – help me understand what I need to do to change my lifestyle and cope with this serious health issue — the counselor really helped me realize that I can do this!!!!
One of the 2009 Nora Roberts Collection – Midnight Bayou – is on at 9:00 on Life Time tonight. Looks good. I love Nora Roberts.
Well, that’s all I have for now……I hope the weather is better tomorrow so we have at least one day this weekend that is nice!
It was a wonderful, lazy weekend – perfect weather, nothing pressing that needed to be done, no concrete plans – just a lazy weekend! I went to see a couple movies this weekend and have some other updates to chat about. So, here are my movie reviews and some good ole ramblings!
I had considered going to see “Duplicity” at the Saturday matinee, but took an unplanned nap, instead. The previews of this movie looked really good — funny, twists and turns, some romance — a little something for everyone! I read the user reviews on Yahoo Movies and it looked like this was not what it was cracked up to be — the critics seemed to like it, but the users pretty much hated it and thought it was boring, confusing, and a total waste of time! BUT – I really like Julia Roberts and Clive Owen, so I was determined to go see for myself! Off I went to the Saturday evening 5:00 show – full price, not matinee price, but, hey – it was Julia Roberts – it was bound to be worth it!! I had it in my head that it would be similar to the 1994 hit, “I Love Trouble”, with Roberts and Nick Nolte – I loved that movie! This looked to be the same bantering back and forth, love/hate, competitively working together – sorta, type of story — only this time it is rival spies working with corporate espionage instead of rival newspaper reporters working to get the same story! I was wrong!!! Yeah, it had a touch of that, but not really. The user reviews were mostly correct – it was boring through a large portion of the movie and it was very confusing! But, I didn’t think it was a TOTAL waste of time. I did consider leaving about 1/2 way through, but I rarely leave a movie – just in case it gets better! The story was good and would have been really good if they hadn’t made it soooooo confusing and if they added some action here and there!!! They worked with flash backs through the majority of the movie — you’d see something happen and then it would flash back to something that happened earlier to explain what just happened…..it was a mess! It would not have ruined any part of the story to just show it in the order it happened – then, like with most movies, if you’re paying attention you can make the connection and “get” the explanation you saw in an earlier scene — and it wouldn’t have been such a confusing mess!! The only flash backs that were appropriate were the ones at the end that tied it all together – you definitely wouldn’t have wanted to see those scenes ahead of time – it would have ruined the ending! All in all, I think it was “OK”, but really wish I hadn’t paid full price and just waited until it came out on NetFlix! I rate it a “C“ (and I might be just a little generous here because it is such a lovely day).
Today I went to see “Knowing”– Nicolas Cage’s new movie – with a friend! Man, talk about intense!! I won’t go into details because any details beyond what you see on the previews would be mean spirited spoilers and I won’t do that to you!!! Suffice it to say that this Science Fiction/Action movie absolutely lives up to the hype!!! I didn’t realize it was Science Fiction and I’m glad I didn’t because I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it and I would have missed a really good movie!!! There is incredible action – there is tense drama – there are bazaar things going on – there is suspense!!! It will keep you on the edge of your seat right up to the unbelievable ending! Even though it was a little too “Twilight Zone” for my usual taste, I really enjoyed it and left feeling really strange…….hhhmmm!!! I give this one a BIG “A”!!!
So, on to the ramblings — I got my car fixed this week! Tramway Auto Body did the work and did a great job!!! I recommend them to anyone needing body work done – they were very nice, professional, helpful, reasonable, and quick!!! For the two days it was in the shop, I rented a Kia Spectra — a surprisingly nice car!! I only needed it to get back and forth to work for two days, so I didn’t really care – just asked for the cheapest rental I could get! But, I was very happy with the Kia – it was comfortable and drove really nice! Sweet little car!
The first day of Spring was Friday and there are signs of Spring blooming all over the place! The Bradford Pear trees are in full bloom and early Spring bushes are blooming all over town! One of the shrubs beside my back deck is all full of blossoms – not sure what it is called, but here is a picture of it:

We saw another perfect sign of spring today on the way to the movie in Southern Pines! We stopped by the little airport in Carthage and the little restaurant there (Pik ‘n Pig) was packed with bikers enjoying some pulled pork at the outdoor tables watching the airplanes come and go:

Well, that’s it for now — gotta go get back to being lazy, the weekend is almost over!!
Recent Comments